John Pappert
John Pappert was elected for his second two-year term as President of the German Cultural Society at the election of officers on January 17, 1999. Monika Lorenz stayed on for another year as vice-president. John was re-elected by acclamation. Following are excerpts from John Pappert's acceptance speech at the annual gathering for the installation of officers on January 23 at our hall on Jefferson Avenue:
I want to welcome you to this year's installation of officers and extend recognition to all those who are willing to give so much of their time to further the aims and purposes of this organization. It is an important event in that we put together the team that will keep our organization functioning for another year.
A special thanks to the members of our Election Committee: Monika Lorenz, Joe Unterreiner, Trudy Lasinsky, Monika Schiro, and Uschi Seibert. We appreciate their time and effort in conducting and organizing this procedure.
First of all, let me say thanks to all those that have agreed to continue their past positions to serve our Society.
As you have heard from our election results, we have several new members - John Haas, Kathy Brinkley, and Ray and Ann Vonder Haar - who stepped forward to join the very active ranks in the operation of our Society. We thank them for this special commitment of their time. We know, it's a sacrifice.
We also want to recognize those that have given so much of their time and energy in the past and have now decided to move on to less involvement in the future. Roland and Aline Thalheimer, Willi und Resi Oppelz, Leroy and Irene McWorther, Fritz and Kathi Haunold, and Margaret Imre. We understand their reasons and we respect their wishes. I am pleased to tell you, all of them have told me that it is their intent to be involved in the German Cultural society whenever possible.
For me, personally, I want to express my appreciation to you, the membership, for giving me the opportunity to represent you as President of the German Cultural Society for the next two years. I will do my very best to do those things that will meet the goals of our organization and assure its future. I will need your continued support. Many people have asked me, why do I want to devote so much of my time to this organization. The answer simply is, you must believe in the goals and purposes of this or-ganization, and you must get something out of the participation. Our purpose is the fostering of our heritage and tradition. What we get out of the organization depends on the viewpoint of the individual. For some, it simply is the socializing aspect and the spending of time together with people of similar interests, for others it's the enjoyment of certain things such as song, dance, sports, arts and crafts or the preparation of food.
This organization can be proud of its accomplishments. Let me just give you some of the statistics; we have:
- about 450 members
- our hall on South Jefferson - 15,000 square feet
- Donau-Park - 10 acres
- 18 active groups and committees
- 22 events directly sponsored by us
- 3 major outside fundraising events
- 10 events by other German organizations
- 6-10 weddings each year
- our hall booked almost every
night for in-house group practices or other German organizations.
The frequent utilization of our hall is to a great extent attributable to the efforts of Sepp Messmer.
The German Cultural Society is now fifty plus years old if you include the time of our forerunner organization, the American Aid Society. We are about to enter a new century and a new millennium, and we are at a crossroads. This is not unlike the experience of other ethnic groups founded by European immigrants in the greater St. Louis area. Historically, the membership of these organizations has been sustained by immigrants from Europe … be the cause revolution, overpopulation, or war. If we want to keep this organization alive, we must look at our offspring and second-generation Americans as a first issue, and we must do the things that make the organization more attractive to this group of people. It will not be easy, and it will be our biggest challenge in the years to come. Life today is simply more complicated and demanding. Increased demand on people's time and the reality that to maintain a certain lifestyle, both husband and wife must be in the workforce. So how do we meet this challenge? I believe, to make this organization more attractive to younger families, we must offer other opportunities for participation beyond those that we offer now. An expanded sports program is one way to do this. We have the opportunity to do this through the construction of a sports field at our Donau-Park facilities.
I want to spend a little time here talking about Donau-Park. There are probably many opinions on this subject. I want to go back and revisit the reasons we gave when the organization made this investment:
- 1. It is an investment in the
future of our Society
2. To make our organization more attractive to future members
3. To permit us to hold activities that we cannot do at our hall
4. To have a place for a future hall if that becomes necessary.
If we look at the reasons why we did what we did, they are still valid and nothing much has changed. If we look at the past, we have through the hard work of many built an incredibly successful organization. And we want to keep it that way, strong and successful, and with your continued support and the increasing active participation of the younger generation we not only can, we will do it.
John Pappert was born in 1937 in the German community of Sackelhausen in the Rumanian portion of the Banat. With the imminent approach of the eastern front, Sackelhausen was evacuated in the fall of 1944. At the end of their westward trek, the Pappert family wound up in the small town of Münzkirchen in Upper Austria. They lived in Münzkirchen when World War II ended. John attended the first five grades of Volksschule there.
When in 1950 the opportunity arose for their family to immigrate to the United States, they opted for St. Louis to become their new home. John attended grades 6 - 8 at Sts. Peter & Paul Catholic School in South St. Louis, then Hadley Technical High School. He earned his Bachelor of Science degree in Mechanical Engineering at the University of Missouri in Rolla. He worked as Mechanical Engineer at Monsanto Company in St. Louis from 1964-1997 in Engineering and Project Managament.
In 1961, John married Anni Ries, a German immigrant from Semlin. They have three sons: Eric, Mark, & Keith. Anni and John live on Ambs Court in South County. They have three grandchildren.
John joined the American Aid Society in 1952 and has been active in this and the successor organization ever since. He is also Vice-President of the Donauschwäbische Stiftung, was Vice-President of the German Cultural Society from 1993-1997 and is President of the organization since 1997. -nm
